One of my favorite Z stories is how she asked me to play picnic with her one morning. She’d arranged all the plastic and wooden “food” on a blanket on the floor, and she’d enlisted a plastic Lego box for a little table. So I came in and sat down on the floor, thinking I … Continue reading →

There are, in the world, parents who probably consider us lucky that Z continued napping until she was nearly three. I try to remember this when I’m tearing out my hair and sobbing on the phone to my mom. “Quiet Time” sounds something like this. (Please note: Curly brackets { } denote the ESM’s thoughts, … Continue reading →

Z’s a happy child. She laughs, tells jokes, loves it when I hide behind a corner and scare the pants off her when she least expects it (this runs in my family). She also tends toward the melodramatic (this also runs in my family. Fine. Just me. Shut up before I go cry myself to … Continue reading →

The No-Nap Blues: I’m singin’ ’em. Yesterday, I, the Ever-Suffering Mother, sat through an hour of listening to my child whine in the next room. “I don’t want to sleep. Let me up. Let me up!” (As if I were physically holding her down on the bed. However, if she’s going to continue believing herself … Continue reading →

My first weekend away from home since Z’s birth deserves a tribute, and Z deserves a new book. So I made one for her. It cost no money and took approximately forty minutes to create. The illustrations especially are an indication of the book’s hasty publishing. Z has been without her father for weeks at … Continue reading →